'Wicked City': Why the show's extreme violence has TV critics saying enough
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
ABC鈥檚 new series 鈥淲icked City鈥� premiered on Oct. 27 and centers on a serial killer (Ed Westwick) who preys on women in 1980s Los Angeles as well as the police detectives (Jeremy Sisto and Gabriel Luna) who are looking for him.
Various TV shows, including the Showtime series 鈥淒exter鈥� and HBO鈥檚 鈥淭rue Detective," have centered on grisly crimes. But 鈥淐ity鈥� has many critics saying that the show has gone too far.
鈥淐ity鈥� is billed as a 10-episode season (a number of installments that resembles the cable model, where, for example, HBO鈥檚 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� often airs for 10 episodes). And according to ABC, the plan 鈥� if the show succeeds, presumably 鈥� is to have the show center on crimes in different eras, though the setting will remain the same.
Some have decried the amount of violence in movies and on television in the past. HBO鈥檚 鈥淭hrones鈥� often features graphic physical and sexual violence and AMC鈥檚 鈥淭he Walking Dead鈥� has some gruesome battle scenes. Shows on broadcast networks have gotten complaints, too, with the intense violence of shows like NBC鈥檚 鈥淗annibal鈥� and Fox鈥檚 鈥淭he Following鈥� turning off some.聽
What has made critics say 鈥淐ity鈥� in particular is going too far? It may be the accumulation of all of these shows before it. 鈥淐ity鈥� arriving after critics saw shows like 鈥淲alking鈥� and 鈥淗annibal鈥� may mean 鈥淐ity鈥� is just too much now.聽
鈥淚f you鈥檝e been thinking that there haven鈥檛 been nearly enough serial killings and butchered women in this fall鈥檚 new shows, Tuesday night is for you,鈥� writer Neil Genzlinger wrote of the night on which 鈥淐ity鈥� airs. 鈥淭he real issue for this series is whether viewers will tolerate its tone. The premiere is drenched in an unpalatable sensationalism.鈥�
Meanwhile, David Sims of wrote of 鈥淐ity,鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to bury the serial-killer drama鈥� Hollywood has long casually mixed sex and violence in poor taste, but聽鈥榃icked City鈥櫬爁eels especially egregious,鈥� and Mekeisha Madden Toby of wrote of the show鈥檚 title as it relates to the crimes depicted, 鈥淸the crimes aren't] 鈥榳icked,鈥� it鈥檚 vile and sadistic.鈥�
As cable TV continues to take viewers away, those who make programs for broadcast TV will most likely continue to try to bring in aspects of cable programs for their own shows in an attempt to draw an audience. But when it comes to over-the-top violence on these shows, some critics are saying it鈥檚 gone on too long.
